Jands Vista for the Gypsy Kings The renowned Gypsy Kings -- credited with helping to bring the distinct sound and style of Rumba Catalana pop music to worldwide audiences -- have just finished their latest US tour, with lighting designer Michael Sharon using his own Jands Vista I3 console for control. Sharon is an independent lighting designer with a wide variety of clients. In addition to four years of designing for the Gypsy Kings, he has also designed a wide range of corporate shows for many different clients. He first used a Jands Vista, on this occasion a T2, when he originally started working for the Gypsy Kings. This was provided by the lighting contractor at the time, PSI Production Services in Denver. He completely "fell in love" with the console and decided to purchase his own Vista I3 from Jands US distributor A.C. Lighting Inc. so that he never had to go back to using another type of console. He has not looked back since. To cope with the everyday demands of touring, Vista's generic fixture model provides quick, straightforward, and accurate fixture swapping to adapt Sharon's show to fit whatever type of lights he is faced with. This is useful when the tour picks up local production, as opposed to using its own lighting rig. The last Gypsy Kings tour lasted nearly four weeks; the band generally des about three four week US tours a year. The venues on the last tour were a mix of sheds and theatres, with capacities of around 3,000. A typical local lighting rig, on which Sharon would run his show from his Vista I3, would contain around 120 PARs and between 10 and 25 moving lights of different types. This would often be supplemented by a specials package. At the iconic Radio City in New York, he used Chroma-Q Color Force 72 RGBA LED battens to highlight some soft goods hired in for the show, and again at the Filene Center in Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, to up-light custom scenic columns. "I love the way a single fixture can illuminate a 30' high surface, with a great color range and still have plenty of punch," he comments on the Chroma-Q Color Force fixtures, a brand also distributed by A.C Lighting Inc., "and the Vista really lets me get the most from them." He also comments that, for corporate events and other shows where time is short, the Vista's next generation timeline is "fantastic. He adds, "When working on complex timelines, I can use the timeline, to easily see and make precise adjustments to individual parameters." Sharon also finds the console ultimately buskable, with the ability to configure the interface to the user's exact requirements. He loves being able to have instant access to everything. "For busking, I have more options than just calling up presets on the fly. Using Extracts, I can trigger complex movements, effects, and routines which make for a visually richer show." Commenting on the visual aspect of the interface, he adds, "You can see graphic representations of elements like gobos in the different lights rather than just looking at a load of numbers -- it's so much easier to work offline." Sharon is impressed with the backup and service he receives from Jands US distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc. He concludes, "Overall, AC Lighting's technical support is absolutely brilliant." Sharon's Vista is already lined up for the 2011 Oracle OpenWorld conference at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, highlighting the Oracle Racing team -- winners of the 2010 America's Cup World Series Regatta in Valencia, Spain. He will be using a laptop running the Vista software to control a trade show booth in one part of the convention, while his I3 will be running the lighting rig for a press conference and presentation area in another. Fred Mikeska, VP of sales and marketing at AC Lighting Inc comments, "Michael is just one example of a designer who took a look at the Jands Vista and has never looked back. The Vista, and the next generation Vista v2 software, really does offer the perfect balance between the power to control your show accurately, with the simplicity to work fast. If you haven't seen Vista v2 yet, you really should take a look and see what you are missing out on......" 
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